ancien French · revision 16485

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la ante}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.sjɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ɑ̃.sjɛ.n‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ancien''' (feminine ancienne, masculine plural anciens, feminine plural anciennes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|anciien]], of three syllables, as it still often was in 17th-century verse.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|anciien]], [[inh|la-lat|anteānus]] (7th–8th century), from [[m|la|ante|t=before]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|24, 637b) Bloch and Wartburg note that the three-syllable form is not the regular outcome of a popular “*antiānus”: the word's development was checked by clerics who were aware of its formation, Rey and the GLLF likewise call it a clerical, half-learned word.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The Latin word had a value of rank rather than of time.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Bloch and Wartburg think [[it|anziano]] and [[es|anciano]], both irregular, may come from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record is in the ''Life of Saint Alexis'' (about 1050), meaning “that has existed for a long time”; the ''Chanson de Roland'' has ''il est escrit en l'anciene geste''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It long kept the value of rank: ''l'Ancien des jours'' is God (13th century) and ''les anciens'' high dignitaries, such as bishops' counsellors (1466).^(DHLF 1992) Of people it meant old, aged (mid-12th century), whence the familiar ''mon ancien'' (1781) and, rurally, “father, mother”.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) From 1080 it applies to earlier times and to the peoples and authors of antiquity, opposed to ''modernes''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Before a noun it means former (''ancien élève'', whence ''un ancien'', 1810, ''son ancienne'', 1873, a former mistress).^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) In the 19th century ''meubles anciens'' and ''livres anciens'' came to mean valued antiques, opposed to ''vieux'', ''à l'ancienne'' “in the traditional way” dates from 1935.^(DHLF 1992) In Africa and Oceania ''les anciens'' are the elders, objects of respect.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Life of Saint Alexis''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1100 – ''L'anciene geste'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 13th century – ''L'Ancien des jours''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1781 – ''Mon ancien''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1810 – ''Un ancien'' “former pupil”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1935 – ''À l'ancienne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # (usually after the noun) [[m|en|old]], [[m|en|ancient]], long-established: ''une coutume ancienne'', ''l'Ancien Testament''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # (after the noun) Antique, valued for its age: ''meubles anciens''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Of antiquity: ''les langues anciennes''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # (before the noun) [[m|en|former]], ex-: ''un ancien ministre'', ''son ancienne maison''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Senior in service: ''il est plus ancien que moi dans le grade''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An old person, ''mon ancien'', a familiar form of address, ''(Africa)'' an elder.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ # ''Les Anciens'': the ancients, the writers of antiquity.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A former pupil or member; a veteran.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''À l'ancienne'': in the traditional way.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anciennement]]

+ * [[ancienneté]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[antérieur]]

+ * [[antique]]

+ * [[avant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}